And Then There Were No Familiars
by Entropy Judge
Summary: Louise summons Flandre as her familiar. Currently undergoing a rewrite from its first incarnation, so updates will be sporadic.
1. Arrival and Awakening

_Scrrrsh.__Scrrrsh._ A long, twisted iron bar scratched against the walls as she walked down the long, dark hallway between her room and the stairs leading up to the library. Flandre Scarlet had a lot on her mind - she was restless, fidgety, edgy. Worst of all, she was _bored._ Bored out of her centuries-old mind, and the worst kind of bored, to boot - the kind of bored that sets in when you know that other people are having fun, and you have been specifically excluded. 

Not that she blamed Remilia for that - she loved her older sister, and Remilia loved her right back. Anything Flan wanted - so long as she was currently stable - Remilia would move, if not heaven and earth, then earth and a good portion of hell, to get her; for her part, Flan respected her sister's wishes and did her best not to cause unnecessary trouble. Like when that _stupid_ shrine maiden had come with the "invitation" to the party …

* * *

><p>"What do you mean, Flan can't come? If she can't come, then I won't go." <p>

Reimu sighed. "That's not an option, Remilia. This is a party for some newcomers, and we don't know how they'll react to vampires at all, let alone one who can't control herself. She's dangerous and difficult to control, so she _can't_ come; you, on the other hand, are a respected member of the community, so you _must_ come." 

"She's getting better!" Flan hadn't been able to see anything - she was listening in on the conversation using an old spell of Patchouli's - but she could imagine the fretful look on Remilia's face; she usually got that way when she whined like that. 

"Oh really? How can you tell?" 

"Well …." And the hanging head that shows she's lost an argument. 

"That's right, you can't. So you're going to go to the party at my shrine tomorrow, and your sister isn't. If I have to break into the mansion and beat you again, I will." _Stupid_ Red-White Shrine Maiden. But the voice softened, "Look, you don't even need to tell her about this. Just say you're going out for a bit - or don't even tell her at all! - and she won't know." A sigh. "I'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

><p>But Remilia had told Flandre - had told her, fighting back the tears, that the others had demanded that she come but leave her sister behind. And before Remilia could work herself into a fit, Flan had hugged her, told her it was alright, and that she'd be fine for a day or two. That Remilia needed the company of people besides her and Pache, and that if her courtiers demanded her presence then surely she <em>was<em> needed. And her sister had smiled a bit, and her tears had dried, and she promised to bring back presents. But that was yesterday. And Remi and Sakuya had left earlier today. 

And right now she was _bored_. She wasn't even feeling fey, like that time she'd tried a coup when Remilia had been visiting the Hakurei shrine on business. She still hadn't figured out how Patchouli had been able to stop her - not only had she not been coughing her lungs out while throwing out all kinds of water spells, but she'd even fought some intruder who'd gotten past Meiling beforehand! That sort of thing just didn't happen … but she hadn't told Remilia, it seemed, so Flan didn't get in trouble for trying to break out of the basement. But she was normal right now, and the basement door was in sight, and she was so _bored_ … 

And then she stopped. _What is this?__Some new magic Pache made?_ A strange mirror of some sort barred her way. Flandre stared at it for a moment, mind whirling - and then, with a mischievous grin, she turned sideways (so her wings would fit) and slipped through the mirror-passage. _Sneak sneak!_ And then the grin died, and she began shrieking as she felt the horrible pain, like that of the sun when she was so much younger … and then the shrieks faded away as her mind fled.

* * *

><p>The students - and the tall, balding man who oversaw their Summoning Rituals - opened their eyes and uncovered their ears. Finally, one of them - a short pink-haired girl - stepped over the collapsed figure and knelt beside it, and the older man followed. What they saw was a young girl, maybe eight to ten years old, with short blonde hair with a long pony-tail on her left side. She wore a short red dress or skirt, with a matching vest and a pink shirt … and she had two twisted iron-like bars with colored crystals hanging from them, that would - had they looked like almost anything else - probably be wings. Now that the piercing screams had died down, she looked exhausted, but untroubled, as though she'd simply fallen asleep. <p>

"Well, Miss Valliere, it seems you've successfully managed to summon a familiar. Precisely what she is, I'm not sure, but you should proceed with the Binding, and then we can take her to the infirmary." The man seemed a little worried, and spoke a little quickly and loudly, but that may have just been because his ears were still ringing. The student started, then nodded quickly. 

"Yes, Mr. Colbert." She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and then briefly flourished her wand. "I am Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière; Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers, bless this humble being and make her my familiar." She then touched the wand to the girl's head, pulled her into a sitting position, and kissed her forehead. Some of the students could now see the crystal wings, and some of their murmurs could be heard. 

"Did the Zero really just succeed? What kind of wings are those? Figures that the Zero would manage to botch this _somehow_." Louise, however, ignored them in favor of watching her new familiar closely, searching for any signs of harm or other distress that could explain the screaming. She gasped as the girl twitched slightly, apparently in reaction to the runes forming on her left hand. Professor Colbert noted them with interest, "Hm, those seem to be rather unusual …." Shaking himself, he called to the other students to return to the classroom, then levitated himself, Louise, and the strange girl to take them to the Infirmary.

* * *

><p>Bright red eyes popped open, and Flandre controlled herself immediately. The last thing she needed was to scare her sister … and then she realized Remilia wasn't around. In fact, she wasn't anywhere she recognized, and she certainly didn't recognize the girl sleeping right in front of her. <span><em>Although given that, <em>she_must not know who I am, either.__Or else she's terminally stupid._ She got up - carefully, so as not to wake the sleeper - and stretched, looking around. She was in an outside room - a tower room, for that matter, judging by the curvature of the wall and the view from the window. Flan shrank back a little - _Remilia_ was the one who like towers, not her - but then straightened up and marched over to look outside. 

As it was night, she naturally looked up to see if she recognized the constellations, and gasped when she saw not one, but _two moons_. One larger blue moon, and the smaller a beautiful scarlet. "Uwaaa~!" Flandre's eyes shone brightly, and her left hand started itching. Taking her eyes from the mesmerizing sight, she saw noticed strange marks on her hand. She stared at them as she tried rubbing them off, memory twitching. _Where have I seen marks like that before? __That one looks like an "X," and then a sort of upside-down "U," and the one at the end is an "F," …._ The marks wouldn't come off, though. 

"They're runes. They mark you as my Familiar," a new voice said, startling Flan. She turned and jumped back - and would have fallen through the window, except for her wings. The pink-haired girl who had been sleeping across from her was now awake, mostly. She yawned and rubbed one eye before continuing, "Are you alright? You were screaming when I summoned you, but you seemed to be fine … um, except for those." She pointed vaguely at Flan's wings. 

""Those" are my wings," came the indignant response. Then she giggled - that cute, childish action that made anyone who heard it forget they were dealing with the most dangerous person in the room, and instead think of her as nothing more than she appeared - and ran, slowly, back to the bed and jumped on. The girl seemed to want to be irritated, but faced with all the charm Flan could muster, smiled resignedly. "My name is Flandre Scarlet. Oh! You said we were in the same family, right? Is my sister here too?" 

"I am Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière … and what do you mean about being 'family?' You're my 'familiar,'" she said, emphasizing the distinction between the two words. As Flandre frowned at the apparent scolding, she softened. "I suppose it does mean that you're part of my family now, kind of. Familiars are supposed to serve their Masters, but most familiars are just animals or magical beasts. I can't think of any, uh … human familiars ever being summoned. I don't suppose you know how to do any chores?" 

"I can pick up after myself!" Flan said brightly, intentionally misunderstanding again. "My big sister used to take care of me, and then we got our house and we got a bunch of servants, and Sakuya takes care of Remilia and me, and Pache gives me lessons when she's not making sure the library is taken care of!" Her cheerful smile became a worried frown. "You're not going to make me study, are you? Lessons are boring," she finished with a pout. Then she registered the worried look on Louise's face. "Is something wrong?" 

"Um, is your sister a noble?" 

"Umm … yes? She's really rich and famous and pretty and everyone listens to what she says. And if they don't do what she tells them to do, she gets angry and yells at them, unless she wants to execute someone for being in-… in-sub-ord-you-nate." At this point, Flan paused - she was no longer speaking, or even thinking in Japanese, as she had in Gensokyo (after Remilia had ruthlessly drilled _that_ language into her head, and Patchouli had used magic to ease the shift in languages); she was speaking in something far closer to French. _Pache's spell must still be working, if I didn't notice the change_. She cocked her head to the side upon seeing Louise laugh. 

"Insubord_i_nate, not 'you.' Is your sister a mage? Can she use magic?" 

"Umm … kind of. It's a really weird sort of magic, though …." Flan's eyes narrowed briefly as she glanced again at her hand. _That's where I've seen them before.__Remi's magic._ "Pache is a magician, though. She takes care of the library." She looked around. "Umm … is my sister here? She's probably going to be worried when she can't find me. I hope she doesn't get too mad." 

"Where do you live?" Louise asked. 

"In the big red mansion by the lake!" Flan said, smiling widely. Louise's eyebrow twitched, then she sighed. 

"That's really not anywhere near enough information. That doesn't match anyone in Tristain that I know of, but I suppose you could be from Gallia, Romalia, or even Albion. Not Germania, though, I hope." The confused look on her familiar's face made her sigh again. "Haa~. Well, let's not worry about that for now. Once we find out where you're from, we can see about sending a message to your sister about what happened. For now, though, let's go back to sleep; it's still a long time to morning, and I have classes to attend." She grimaced. "I suppose you'll have to come with me, huh?" 

"Okay!" Flan snuggled under the covers, then curled up and hugged Louise, her wings pointing straight back. Then she relaxed slightly and looked up. "Hey? Why are there two moons? And they're different colors, too - the red one is pretty, though - but there's only supposed to be one white moon, right?" She saw Louise's face slowly pass from confusion, to realization, to horror … and then she scrunched her eyes and smiled. 

"We'll talk about that later, okay Flandre? Let's go to sleep now." 

"Okay! I'm glad you're here to take care of me. You're nice."


	2. New World, New Friends

Despite Louise's suggestion, Flandre didn't go to sleep; she didn't precisely stay awake, either, though, instead drifting in a lucid half-dream, half-hypnotic state where she could think clearly without risking an emotional overload. _Okay, so I'm not in Gensokyo anymore; I'm not even on Earth. __Magic seems to be a normal part of this world, or at least the part I'm in. __Um, maybe they do magic like Remi?_

She wasn't entirely sure what to think about her situation. Louise's reactions to her questions pointed toward her not even considering the possibility of other worlds, and probably not knowing how to get Flan back to Gensokyo. In that case, she'd have to wait for Remilia to get her. That meant she'd need to keep herself under as much control as possible - she couldn't know _when_ her sister would finally find her, and while destroying everything around her would make her feel good once, that meant that she wouldn't be able to have fun after that. And if Remilia took a long time to finally get here, she'd be even more bored than she'd been before she got here. _I don't like being bored. __And I don't know if that burning thing is a normal spell around here._

She sighed and wished she knew more magic. She could split herself into four, turn invisible, fly, and ignite Laevatein, and Remilia had managed to teach her that one life-drain spell … but danmaku wasn't magic, and that was most of what she did. Well, that and break things, either physically or with her power. She _was_ a vampire, after all, and no mere humans had ever been physically capable enough to even slow her down - unless they had magicians backing them up. Magic was always the unknown factor. 

_So, until I learn more about the magic here, no rampages. __Uhh. __No rampages, no rampages, no rampages …_. She made sure she still had Laevatein - it was a gift from her sister, and if it had been lost she probably wouldn't have been able to stop herself from breaking down, but it was still there, hidden by the spells Remilia and Patchouli had put on it to keep it accessible at all times. Soon, she noted the first glimmerings of dawn's approach, and gently untucked herself from the sleeping human next to her. The window was to the south, so it was probably a bit later than she thought, but she opened the wardrobe on the wall and began rummaging through it, humming to herself. 

_There it is!_ She pulled out a slightly beaten parasol, white and light pink, and smiled. _Yes.__This will work._ As she closed the doors, she heard Louise begin to stir, and crept over to her side of the bed, crouching so only her bright red eyes were above the mattress. Louise muttered, yawned, and turned over. Then she opened sleep-shrouded eyes - and when she saw a pair of bright red ones facing her, she jerked up and began scrambling back, scream cut short as a high-speed vampire plowed into her, tackling her to the bed and giggling mischievously. 

"Oh, Flan, it's just you. Please don't do that," she said when her heart had stopped trying to forcibly exit her rib cage. 

"Aww," she pouted. "Okay, but you were taking so long to wake up! Look, it's almost dawn. Oh, and, um … I don't really like the sun, it's too hot and bright, so is it okay if I borrow that?" She pointed to the parasol she'd left leaning against the desk. 

"Borrow …? Oh, the parasol? But the sun is nice and warm! If you don't get enough sun, you won't grow up to be big and healthy." Louise nodded firmly, as though stating a well-known fact. "If you want to borrow it, you can, but you have to promise not to use it all the time when you're outside." Louise moved over to the wardrobe, picking out a new set of clothes to wear. She put them on before realizing Flan hadn't responded to her and turned around, shirt unbuttoned. "Flan?" 

"Fine." A blunt, bored, unsatisfied response, completely unlike her previous ones. Louise frowned at the recalcitrance. 

"Good. Hm, do you know what familiars are for?" 

"…. Assisting their masters, fighting, spying, gathering items, making sure their masters don't wear themselves out by casting spells when they'll run out of energy. Pache said you can sometimes tell the quality of a mage by the familiar they summon - low-quality mages summon ordinary animals, medium-quality mages summon weak magical creatures, and high-quality mages summon powerful magical creatures. The best mages can enhance the intelligence of their familiars, though, so you can't always rely on just looking at the familiar. It's best used when you're looking at someone who's summoning a familiar for the first time using a random summoning spell, since most spells of that sort rely on finding some sort of match between the caster and the familiar, and the mage isn't good enough to nudge the spell toward a desired result." Her voice had taken on a lecturing quality as she continued her explanation, and she stopped, hunching a little and looking sheepish before turning shyly toward Louise who was staring at her with eyebrows raised. "Uh, that's what Pache said, anyway. She was tutoring me in magic, but …," her shoulders and wings sagged, "I'm not very good. She said it wasn't worth the effort to teach me any more than the basics." 

Louise flinched. "Um, I see. And you said this 'Pache' was a librarian near your home? Why don't you tell me about your home, and then what you can do?" She seemed to have forgotten the change in Flandre's personality already. 

"Umm … well, there's Remilia. She's my older sister, and she's really nice to me. And Sakuya is the chief maid, and helps Remi and me, and oversees all the other servants. And Patchouli Knowledge - that's Pache's full name - she lives in the mansions library, and it's _really huge_ and there are lots of books and so I'm not allowed to play in there unless she and Remi are there to watch over me. And there's Meiling, who's our gardener. And there are lots of other servants, but I don't know if they have names." _Good, no lies. __Lies could be a problem._ "Umm … oh, I can sew a little, 'cause Remi wanted to teach me, but I'm not really good. And I can cook a little. And I can sneak _really good_, watch!" And she crouched down and 'snuck' around the bed until she was on the other side from Louise, then slowly dragged the sheet off to drape over herself. When she was finished, she 'snuck' back over to Louise, then leaped out of the sheet, yelling, "_Boo!_" 

Wrapping her arms around Flandre, Louise smiled happily to herself, and Flan's satisfied giggles warmed her heart so much that she couldn't bear to tell the girl that the entire time she'd been sneaking, her wings had been pointed straight up into the air, marking her exact position. "Well, let's go down and have breakfast, alright? I have classes, and you'll have to come with me for now, so try to be patient. Ah, don't forget the parasol," she finished, passing the object to Flan as they opened the door and left her room.

* * *

><p>As she turned to let her wings through, Flan saw several more doors along the wall. "Uwaa~. Are those your rooms too?" She asked, face full of delight. As one of the doors opened, however, Louise sighed. <p>

"No, they belong to other students. We only have a single room." Flan pouted. The girl stepping out of the room was a tall, statuesque redhead, and following her was a large dog-like lizard with a flame on its tail. The girl seemed about to say something when the lizard lunged forward at Flandre, snapping its jaws and slashing menacingly with its claws. Flan had ducked back and used Louise as a shield, however, and flailed the parasol ineffectually in front of them. 

"_FLAME!_" The girl yelled at the creature and grabbed a loose fold of skin at its neck, hauling it back before it could try to get past Louise. "No! What's gotten into you?" She turned back to Louise, remorseful and scared expression on her face. "Are you two alright? I honestly don't know why he did that." 

"Uuh. I'm fine." Flan spoke before Louise could explode at the other girl. Still hiding mostly behind her, Flan slid over far enough that her left eye could be seen peeking menacingly past. "That scary lizard-thing is smart, though - if it had tried to go after Louise, it'd be hu~urt. Huhu." The eye lost its menacing aura as it switched to the girl. "I'm Flandre. Who are you? Are you Louise's bodyguard? You look like Meiling, except Meiling looks a lot stronger than you do. You don't look that strong." Both girls seemed a little stunned at the statements, and Louise recovered first. 

"No, Flan, she's another student here; her name is Kirche. She's a Fire mage - her familiar is a Salamander." She looked over at the taller girl, eyes hard. "And if you can't keep it from attacking people, you should look into getting it chained up." 

"Don't worry, Miss Zero; Flame won't go after your little familiar anymore, once I introduce them properly." She looked down at Flandre. "I am Kirche, called the Ardent, and this is my familiar, Flame. I'm not sure why he tried to attack you, but if you come out from behind Louise, I'll introduce you to him, and then you can be friends. How about it?" She smiled hesitantly; even she wasn't entirely sure she could keep Flame from attacking again if the strange little girl came out too quickly. 

"You don't have to if you don't want to, Flan," Louise said when no response came. "You can just tell her to go away." 

"Uuh …." Flan shuffled out a little more, and stuck her whole head out from behind Louise. She looked at the salamander, then at Kirche, then back at the salamander. She slid out a little more, then turned as her wings brushed the wall. Louise stepped to the side to give her more room, and Flan smiled at her. "Um, I'm Flandre Scarlet. It is nice to meet you," she told Kirche. 

Kirche smiled and knelt down, prodding Flame forward but keeping on hand on his neck. She reached out her other hand, and Flan grabbed it. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Flan. Flame, this is Flandre. Do _not_ try to attack her again, understand?" She pushed Flame's head over to where Flan could pet his snout; although he seemed wary of the girl, he consented to her touch, and she giggled. Kirche smiled, "Maybe you two can play together sometime." 

"Huhuhu, oh, no, I couldn't do that. All my toys always end up broken." A gleaming, sharp-toothed grin appeared. "I just _couldn't_ do that to you. You'd be all alone." Then she hopped back, strange grin gone and a normal smile on her face, and turned to Louise. "Ah, you said you were hungry, right? Let's race to the bottom of the stairs!" She spread her arms out as though they were wings as well, and rushed forward, causing Kirche to drop to the floor to avoid being hit by the crystals, and Flame to jump slither back in fear. Her childish giggles could be heard as she descended at a full run. 

Louise glared over at Kirche once more, then followed her familiar at a more sedate pace. Kirche looked over at Flame. _Was that … a threat? __From a little girl?_ She shivered, then rose to her feet. "Well, nothing for it, I suppose. We'll just have to keep a watch on our dear friend, now won't we, Flame? Come." She marched down the hall as well, salamander bringing up the rear.

* * *

><p>They had to go outside to reach the entrance to the Alviss Dining Hall, and Flan diligently put up the parasol as she stepped outside the door. Taking careful judge of where the sun should be, she angled the parasol so that it covered as much of her body as she could, leaving only part of her legs exposed. That much wouldn't be any trouble at all for her, so she set out across the yard, Louise smiling affectionately at her preparations. <span><em>Maybe she really does have some kind of problem with the sun? <em>_Well, I'll be taking her by the Infirmary again, so they can check on her there_. As they reached the shelter of the Dining Hall, Flan closed the parasol and spun around, hopeful smile on her face. "Did I do good?" 

Louise hesitated, unsure as to what was being asked, then said, "You mean keeping yourself safe?" At Flandre's insistent nod, she continued, "Yes, you did very well. Come on, let's go eat." Flan squealed with glee, and her wings snapped straight back as she latched onto Louise's arm. When they entered the hall, however, many conversations ground to a halt as students eyed the curious pair. Louise flushed and led Flandre, who was gazing all about the room in curious wonder, to a pair of chairs at the end of the middle table. "Is there anything particular you need?" 

Flan shook her head. _Hm. __Not much red meat, just chicken and fish. __Oh well~._ As the last of the students arrived, including Kirche, who shot a curious glance at them as she passed, the students and teachers began a formal prayer to Brimir and the Queen in thanks. Although she didn't venerate the two as everyone else did, Flan clasped her hands, closed her eyes, and sent out a small prayer of her own, hoping that her silly sister wouldn't worry _too_ much over her. She hardly seemed in any danger at all. 

"After we eat, we need to head over to the Infirmary for a little." 

"Ah, are you sick?" Flan cocked her head as she sliced the piece of chicken Louise had given her - she had very neat table manners, a requirement of Remilia's. 

"No, but they wanted to see you again after yesterday. It seemed like the Summoning hurt you somehow, and I'd like to ask them about your weakness to the sun as well." Louise paused, food partway to her mouth, then finished eating and continued. "I guess we'll also have to go into the city soon to get you some new clothes." 

"Eh? What's wrong with these?" Flan's voice sharpened. "My sister picked them out for me, I don't want to wear anything else!" 

"But it's the only set of clothing you have, right? What will you wear if they get dirty or torn?" 

"Oh, that. Pache made them, actually - they're magic clothes! If they get dirty, I just take them off and pour water on them, and it cleans them; if they get torn, I just rub dirt into the rip and it repairs it like that." Louise looked dubious, but Flan ignored her. 

As they finished eating, Flan saw several servants coming to pick up empty dishes and prepare the room for lunch. As she watched them, she thought of Sakuya, and of Louise, and her mind began coiling anew. A mischievous, sinister grin spread across her face. Kirche pointed her out to her friend. "See, that's what I meant. That is _not_ a normal smile."


	3. Magic

Author's Note: Hello, everyone, and thank you all for reading this far! This is the note that normally would go at the beginning of a story, but I figured I'd let people read the first couple chapters to see if they like it before talking at you. So, first thing: Thank you all for reading, and thank you to everyone who's commented or critiqued this (past and future!). Second thing: This is a rewrite. I've already written this story, but I wasn't happy with some parts, made a few mistakes, and some other things could have been done better. So I'm taking the time to redo some parts before posting it here. The original is 24 chapters plus an epilogue; I don't plan on changing that, but even if I do it shouldn't be by more than a chapter or two. Some changes have been made in the ZnT cosmology as well, I believe; I don't think anything major, and probably not relevant for this story, but if I do other stories set after this it may be relevant. I think that's everything ... Please, enjoy!

* * *

><p>"So you can't tell me anything about her? Why she reacts to the sun, what purpose her wings serve, where she's from? Anything?" Louise glared at the two Healers, one an Earth mage and the other a Water. She closed her eyes, then looked over at the door to the room where Flandre was waiting. The healers had wanted to talk to her out here, for some reason … <em><span>but I don't see what they could want to say that Flan shouldn't be hearing<span>._

"That is … essentially correct, Miss Valliere. Your familiar has been fairly clear about her likes and dislikes, and, well, we're baffled." The senior Water mage was doing the talking, a well-to-do woman who'd had a thriving potion-crafting business before being hired by the Academy. "There might be some problem with water - it could just be that she doesn't know how to swim, or maybe she's just afraid of it - as she mentioned it as being something she dislikes as much as sunlight. And she was very certain about her wings not helping her to do anything. She …."

"She didn't seem to know what wings were _for_ - she just said they were there, like they're supposed to be." The Earth mage spoke up as the other trailed off, earning a glare of rebuke from her.

"Anyway, _she_ isn't the reason we wanted to talk to you out here. You are."

"Me? There's nothing wrong with me …" Louise frowned. _Is there? __Well … maybe it's about me not being taller! __And not … growing._ "What did you want me to do?"

"Take care of yourself."

"… What?"

"We have no idea what your familiar is, apart from that she apparently isn't human. Her answers ... have not been particularly helpful. We can't even tell where she's _from_, since none of the names she uses match any maps we've seen - if you want to learn more about her, you're probably better off asking her directly. … But it's possible that she's a carrier for some illness or other that could spread. Since we'd rather _not_ face a plague of some kind, especially not without warning, if she has something contagious, you'll get it first, and if _anything_, anything at all strange starts happening to you, isolate her and yourself and get someone to come get us." The woman looked straight at Louise as she spoke, impressing her with the seriousness of the subject matter. "We brought you out here alone because I think your familiar would deny having any such issues, and I want you to actually think about it, instead of defending your familiar."

Louise blinked. _Defending her?_ "I think I see your point. And I do understand about not wanting to get the whole school sick. I'll be careful." She bowed to the healers, then turned to get Flan. As they walked through the hall to the door, Louise kept glancing over at the smaller girl, brows furrowed. "Flan, don't pick at that. It keeps things from getting into the scratch and making you sick."

"Ooh, but it itches! And I don't see why they had to take some of my blood anyway." Denied the ability to scratch the alchemical patch on the back of her hand, she grabbed Louise's hand and sidled next to her, forcing her to slow down or start dragging Flandre.

"To make sure you're healthy." _And to see if it reacts to any testing spells._ But she didn't say that - regardless of the healers' concern, Louise was sure that Flan wasn't some monster planning to kill them all in their sleep. "After classes are over, do you want to go take a walk around the Academy? I can point out the different buildings, and you can ask me any questions you want." Flandre seemed to love asking questions, even while in the Infirmary. She considered the idea for a moment.

"Um, won't you have to study? And practice your magic! I saw some students practicing magic earlier … but if you don't have to do anything, can we?" She turned adorable, pouting eyes up at Louise, who'd stiffened at the mention of practicing magic. _Not that I'd be able to hide it much longer, anyway._

"I'm sure I won't have anything to work on," Louise said with a sad smile.

* * *

><p>They were late to Professor Chevreuse's class on Earth magic, of course. Flandre attracted quite a bit of attention - several of the more magical creatures needed to be restrained as Flame had, as they lurched to protect their masters. Normal animals, on the other hand, tended to ignore her, although a few cats clambered over and purred as she scratched them.<p>

"Now then, Miss Valliere, I assume you understand the basics of transmutation?" Professor Chevreuse asked after the excitement had died down. Several students paled as the woman began asking the same questions that had led to another student's successful transmutation of several of the pebbles on the desk. Louise herself shuffled awkwardly.

"Um, I understand the theory, but …," her voice faltered, growing softer. "I've never managed a successful transmutation."

"Well, there's a first time for everything. Come on down here, and I'll watch; whatever you're doing incorrectly, I can tell you how to fix it. Don't be shy - you may not have seen it, but the young lady over there transmuted earlier, so you won't even be the first today." She pointed at a quiet, blue-haired girl sitting next to Kirche, smiling gently.

"I … I'd rather not, if that's alright," Louise said quietly, head down. It was impossible to miss the sighs of relief from most of the class, and as she slumped down into an empty seat, Flan held her arm worriedly.

"Unacceptable." Professor Chevreuse's voice hardened. "This is a class on magic, Miss Valliere, and you must at least _try_. Now, come down here and let's see what you can do." Louise slowly stood up and walked down to the teacher, Flan still holding onto her. As they moved down the tiered room, Flan couldn't help but see many students hiding behind or underneath their desks. She nuzzled Louise and smiled brightly at her when Louise turned to look at her.

_That's right. __I managed to summon Flandre, even if … _something_ happened. __And I made the Contract without any problems whatsoever. __I can do this._ Buoyed by her familiar's support, Louise took a deep breath as she reached the desk. "I am going to transmute these pebbles to glass." _A nice safe choice. __Deep breath, concentrate, and cast …._

Louise smiled down at Flandre, then stepped aside to give her a clearer view of what was happening. Then she flourished her wand several times, tapped the nearest pebble once, voiced a short syllable, and was thrown back into the blackboard along with Professor Chevreuse as the pebbles - and the desk - erupted in a bright explosion. When her mind cleared a little, her first thoughts weren't of her failure, but of the little girl who'd been standing by her, in the sunlight she so detested, and who must be hurt from such a powerful explosion. She began to rise unsteadily, began to call out to her -

- and was tackled before she could do more than draw in her breath. She looked down, and saw Flandre's golden hair, saw the girl digging her face into Louise's stomach. Then she looked up, and Louise saw a smile of pure joy, and bright eyes sparkling with happiness.

"Ahahaha! That was fun. Amazing! Awesome! Can you do that more? I want - " Flan paused, smile fading, as she saw Louise's face, the tears beginning to work their way through the dust from the explosion.

"I'm sorry, Flandre. That's … that's all I can do. None of my spells ever work, things just, just explode, and -" Louise didn't finish, couldn't finish. She broke down in tears as she saw the minor cuts and scrapes her explosion had inflicted on Flan. _My fault. __I'm worthless, horrible. __Why did I let her stay with me? __I wish I could break the bond, let her go. __It's the only way to keep her safe._

Louise continued sobbing, even as Flandre stood up, put her small arms around Louise's head, and hugged her tightly to her chest, humming softly.

* * *

><p>Class had pretty much shut down after the incident. With Louise unable to stop her hysterics - and after she'd tried to refuse the attempt - no one had really had the heart to get angry at her. Several students volunteered to either help Professor Chevreuse or clean up the mess, while the quiet girl with the book levitated Louise and Flandre through a broken window and onto a large dragon, who looked at the new passengers curiously. After a nudge by the girl, the dragon flew up to Louise's window, and the two were levitated into her room and onto the bed. Flan turned to thank the mage, but she had already disappeared. Flandre had stayed with Louise, holding her and stroking her hair, for half an hour before she finally stopped crying and fell asleep, exhausted. Flandre, too, dozed off after shutting the window; at some point, someone had left food for them - vegetables, fruit, things that wouldn't need to be heated - along with a note that Louise had been excused from classes for the rest of the day, and that if she felt ill she could spend the next day in the Infirmary as well.<p>

"… And that's pretty much it. I'm a failure as a mage; no spell I cast ever goes right, all I ever get are explosions." Louise was idly picking at her food, taking small bites, but certainly not enough to make up for missing lunch _and_ dinner.

"But explosions are fun! Things go 'boom' and there's wind and light and it's fun! Hey, can we go make explosions together sometime? Remi would take me to go make explosions, and it we always had a good time." Flan's eyes began to shine, practically glowing red as she remembered her sister. Louise stared for a moment before shaking herself, almost losing herself in her familiar's enthusiasm.

"I suppose we could, but ... It's just that I'm not _trying_ to make explosions. I'm trying to do real magic, but ... it never works ..." She slumped and stared at the apple in her hands. Flandre tilted her head, eyes narrowing as she considered her 'master.' She plopped onto her stomach, wings chiming as she rocked side to side.

"I don't see what the problem is. _I_ can't do magic either, but I'd still be the same even if I could. What's so special about whether you can do whatever it is you try to do and making explosions?" She paused, then smiled. "Hey! Remi's going to come get me! When she gets here, she can make Pache help you with magic. Since you're taking care of me, that's only fair, after all."

"Maybe ..." Louise frowned. "But what if we can't find her? We need a bit more than just your sister's name and the landscape." Flan frowned and shook her head.

"Umm ... doesn't matter! If I came here, then Remi and Pache can come here. And Remi's definitely going to come get me. She's my sister, after all, so she will. So it's okay if you can't find out how to get there, because she can come here!" She smiled happily, nodding her head at the train of logic. Louise began to sigh, only for it to turn into a yawn. Flandre looked confusedly at her. "Eh?"

"I ... ah, excuse me. I'm sorry, Flan." She looked out the window at the night sky. "It's pretty late, isn't it? Let's go to bed, alright?" Flan pouted.

"Aww, I want to watch the sky some more! I like the stars, and the moons are pretty ..." She turned round, red puppy-dog eyes on the girl.

"Flan ..." Louise sighed as her familiar slumped, head and wings drooping. "I know, it doesn't seem fair. We can stay up sky-watching some other night, okay?"

"Okay. Good night."

"Good night, Flandre. Sweet dreams."

"... Yeah. Sweet dreams. ..." Flandre waited, listening to Louise's breathing, her heartbeat, the multitudinous sounds of the night. Eventually she judged the girl lying beside her to be sufficiently deep in sleep that she could move without waking her, and slipped away to stand by the window, watching the moons in the sky above.


	4. Nightmare

_Huhu. __I wonder what Remi would say …_. Flandre leaned out the window, watching the moon rise and the lights of the Academy die out one by one. Finally, nearly all the lights had dimmed - some few rooms seemed to have small candles, and the occasional individual could be seen sneaking around the grounds, but those wouldn't be any problem for her to avoid. _Wouldn't be a problem even if I weren't careful, but best to be safe~._ Fading from sight, Flan jumped onto the sill, looked carefully around for any magical familiars that could sound an alarm, then leapt into the air, gaining altitude as she flew toward the nearby forest. While the odds of finding what she wanted were slim … they weren't nonexistent there, while they were at the Academy.

As she flew on, taking her time, she thought about the dragon the bookworm had ridden. _The only magical familiar-beast that didn't react negatively to me, which means … what? __The girl _couldn't _have given it a command to not react, I'd have heard it. __Unless it was through something other than voice - but it saw _us _first! __So … it's not just some dumb animal? __Maybe it's just so confident in its own power that it didn't need to be afraid? __But if I ask Louise about them, then she'll get suspicious …. __Oooh! _ Debating the merits of risking her newfound source of enjoyment took her well into the forest, until she decided to perch on a large tree overlooking a small pathway. Looking down the path one way simply led farther in that direction, but merely a short distance down the other way was a small, apparently-abandoned shack, and movement around that small building caught Flan's attention.

A tall, dark-haired man wearing a bright red tunic stumbled around the shack, weaving a little. Focusing on the man, Flan realized that he was _already_ injured - he had several minor cuts on his arms, a wound of some kind on his side, and an arrow protruding from his shoulder. _He probably wouldn't be ugly_ - he had a sculpted face, large biceps, and was fairly tall. His injuries didn't seem to bother him, apart from the obvious effects of blood loss, but that would change very quickly once he hit a certain point, Flan knew. Peering back the way he'd come, she didn't see anyone, and that could mean that he'd already killed them, that they were too busy recuperating, weren't interested in chasing him, or were just much slower. Regardless, this was a good chance, and she decided to make the most of it - dispelling her invisibility, she _moved_.

_Moving_ was a trait that she shared with Remilia, and which Remilia had implied was not shared by other vampires, as she claimed to be "faster" than them. _Moving_ also drove Patchouli to fits of screaming apathy, as it - according to her - shouldn't work. _Moving_ was not teleportation, but simply a burst of blinding speed, easily capable of letting Flan move over four hundred meters in less than a second, and that wasn't even at top speed … and that was where Patchouli began complaining. According to her, moving that fast should either create a soundwave of some kind, or else require some kind of damping magic to prevent the soundwave; _moving_ did neither, and that shouldn't be possible. Remilia's explanation of "It's magic," didn't help, since according to Patchouli _moving_ required no magic, used no magic, emitted no magic, and simply wasn't possible. And yet, she and Remilia did it, which infuriated Patchouli to no end and led to them being banned from the library.

In any case, that was what Flan did, _moving_ from her treetop perch to stand immediately in front of the man, cheerful grin on her face. Before she could do anything else, however, the man said, "Out of the way, brat, I have no time for you," and pushed her down before continuing his weaving path down the trail. Which was, of course, the last mistake of his life. Once Flan recovered from the shock of being _ignored_, she _moved_ up behind him and hamstrung the man, ripping the talons of her right hand through the thick muscle and severing the tendons above the knee. Normally, of course, this would be when the screaming started, but Flandre had only just begun her attack. Before he could fall, before his mind could properly comprehend that he'd _been_ attacked, she raked both claws out from spine to kidneys, going deeper as she pressed forward so that the spine remained intact, but the organs themselves were shredded. Reaching up, she grabbed his uninjured right shoulder and yanked, pulling him crosswise and slamming him to the ground beside her.

By this time, of course, the man had realized the magnitude of his mistake and probably knew he was going to die, but he didn't give up. Lunging forward in a desperate strike that must have torn even more muscle out of his damaged back, he threw all his great mass and strength behind a superlative punch aimed at shattering Flan's face. She let him strike, amused at the sight of biceps larger around than her own skull, then grabbed the wrist of his now-shattered left hand and flipped him over her head. Finally, she tore his shirt off and sliced open his stomach so she could drink his blood directly. Shock finally taking effect, the man did nothing but tremble and shake as his body began to shut down. Looking at the man's massive neck, Flan smiled. _Remilia has a reputation as a light but messy eater precisely because she refused to open people up like this when she feeds. __No, she always has to go for the throat. __Huhu, silly girl. __Great big artery like that, you'll get a faceful of blood, and when you actually take a drink everything that doesn't go down your throat goes down your dress. __If you slit the chest and belly, though, you can drink to your leisure._ And as Flandre leaned over to drink the blood of a dying man, she looked over herself, making certain that she had not a drop of blood marring her appearance.

It didn't take her long to finish, and she still had plenty of night left before she should be back with Louise. _Ah, to not be hungry anymore. __Huhu._ Not that Remilia intentionally let her sister go hungry - _… __Probably …_ - but Flandre needed a lot more blood than she did. Even one person wasn't really enough to keep her sated, not for long … so she kept walking, moving the same direction the man had come from. Less than twenty minutes later, she found what seemed to be a bandit camp, one that had suffered from an attack by wolves if the bodies were any indication. The humans had survived, though, and Flan stepped into the light.

It took a few moments, but very quickly the survivors were aiming bows, spears, and melee weapons at her, though none had gotten close enough to attack without warning. Then one of the men lowered his spear and began walking toward her. "It's just a little girl," he called to his fellows. Flan grinned to herself. This time, she would move first, and she drew Laevatein as he closed to only a few meters. Her hand began itching again, as it had when she first saw the two moons of the strange and unfamiliar Halkegenian sky, and she rushed forward, Laevatein sweeping left to right to open up the man's ribcage. Flan laughed, a mad cackle of joy - **Toys! ****Toys to break and smash and crush! ****All for me!** - and charged into the largest concentration, only six men. Two loosed arrows at her, but they were poorly aimed, and then Flan was on them, Laevatein smashing and her right hand slashing, twisting, throwing, killing.

Flan shook her head. _Ah, maybe I should talk to them first._ Blinking slowly, she looked around at the devastated camp; nothing had survived her rampage intact, not even the trees around it. Putting one hand to her head, Flandre groaned at her loss of control. Then she looked down at herself and shrieked in rage, as her clothes were filthy, she was covered in blood and gore, and the taste of raw meat filled her mouth. Easy enough to fix, really, but such a complete loss of control hadn't happened to her in a long time. _Not since … _- realization dawned - _… __not since Remi stopped giving me as much blood as I needed to be 'full.'_ Tears began to form as the realization struck her, but she shook her head and wiped her eyes. _No. __I can't, not here and now._ The moons were still high in the sky, meaning she had plenty of time to get back to the Academy, but Flan decided to cut her walk short and flew back as fast as she could.

Of course, she could hardly go back to Louise's room as she was. Fortunately, there were a few wells - mostly for the servants' benefit, she thought - and most were fairly hidden from casual observers. Picking one of the better-hidden ones, Flan hauled up a bucket of water and, tensing in anticipation, dumped it over her head. She didn't need to take her clothes off, after all, she just liked to - when the magic in the clothes went to work, it tingled and itched where they touched her, and she didn't exactly _like_ being drenched by cold water. It took a second bucket for Flan to be satisfied, and then drying the clothes and cleaning what parts of her hadn't been rinsed off took merely a minor expenditure of energy radiated outward - nothing nearly as powerful as Remilia's "Nightless Castle" power, but the same principles applied - and then she quietly flew up to Louise's window and crawled into the bed with her.

* * *

><p>Louise ran, stumbling across the unfamiliar field as the tower behind her burned fiercely. <span><em>Did anyone else get out? <em>_What happened to Flandre?_ She wanted to stop, to turn and go back and find her familiar, the only friend she had, but fear drove her to continue fleeing. She ran, on and on, sometimes tripping over a rock or stumbling over a tree root, but she always got back up and kept on running, until finally she had to stop, had to let tortured lungs and pain-wracked legs rest.

Catching her breath, she tried to think, to remember what had happened. She'd been sleeping, but Flan hadn't been with her. _Maybe she wasn't at the Academy? __But how could she have left without anyone knowing? __But if she was there, why didn't I see her, why didn't she come to me?_ Something had woken her - maybe it was whatever had caused the explosions, fierce and red, or maybe it was the screaming, she wasn't sure. All she knew was that something had woken her, and then someone had taken her by the hand, leading her down the steps of the tower and then told her to run. She had turned to demand to know what was going on … but the person, whoever she'd been, had already turned back. Was already dying, with a black leaf-shaped piece of iron piercing through her.

That had broken Louise, and she ran. There seemed to be fire everywhere in the courtyard. She couldn't find any of the other students - the only people she'd seen, living or dead, were the servants, some yelling at her to run, others glad that she still lived. Sometimes they ran back, and when Louise turned to see why, they would fall, like string-cut puppets, or fall apart as something tore through them, and then she would keep going, keep running. Mind reeling, she tried to guess what had happened, since her memory wasn't telling her anything useful.

_We … the Academy was attacked. __There must have been mages, commoners wouldn't have been able to cause so much destruction, wouldn't have _dared _to attack a school full of mages! __But who would have done it, could have gotten a strong enough group here without being found out? __And they'd have to be really strong, to defeat all the teachers._ Louise slumped against a tree, exhausted, and began to try to figure out what she should do. _I need to get to the capital, to Princess Henrietta. __Whoever attacked, she'll be able to find out who and why…._ Looking around, however, she realized her only means of figuring out where she wanted to go was to look back at the burning Academy … which was far too close still, too close to rule out pursuit. And Louise had no idea how to navigate by the stars, or find out what direction she was facing, or where she needed to go. The only thing she _knew_ was that in the direction of the Academy lay danger, so she turned her back on the flames once more and began walking, moving carefully to avoid tripping on roots or rocks, or running into branches that would catch on her night-clothes.

Moving so slowly had its drawbacks, of course - specifically, that anyone chasing after her would probably be able to catch up easily, especially if they had light to see by, good shoes to protect their feet, and tough shirts and breeches to resist the tearing claws of branches. Every so often Louise would turn back to see if she could detect any torches or mage-lights, but she never did. Her first warning of pursuit was the sound of the hunters calling, in fact, and when she heard them she began to run, heedless of the damage she was doing to herself and her clothing. But they found her anyway, tracking her by some method other than sight, and then something punched into her shoulder.

Strangely enough, there was no pain, not when she was hit, not when she fell on her wounded arm, not even when she reached over with her other hand and felt the bones of her shoulder crunch beneath her fingers. Still, while it didn't hurt, her legs refused to cooperate, and she was forced to turn herself over by pushing herself over and then into a kneeling position. Maybe she could at least see the faces of her pursuers, perhaps even ask _why_ they'd attacked, why they'd hunted down even a failure of a mage like her. But her vision began to blur even before they reached her, and she had to hold herself up by grabbing the trunk of a tree. Finally, though, they came, three or four men, and Louise raised her head to face them.

"Why? Why di-?!" She started to ask them what they'd come for, but the nearest of them simply raised his spear and drove it through her uninjured shoulder, and _this_ time she felt pain. Burning, freezing, blinding pain, and she shrieked in agony. The man in the middle, tall, with a hat and mask, drew a slim blade and pointed it at her as stared in horror. Behind and above him, she saw a great scarlet glow, and it captivated her. _The Academy. __What, did I run in a great big circle? __What a complete failure I am …._ Choking out a sobbing laugh, Louise focused on the swordsman, who was raising his blade to thrust forward when he exploded and the great scarlet light took his place. The spear was pulled from her shoulder, causing her to gasp in pain, and then the light rushed forward to embrace her.

"I'm sorry," it said. "I'm so sorry. I won't let anything like this happen to you ever again."

* * *

><p>Remilia Scarlet landed at the beginning of the paved path leading to the gates of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Normally she would have just flown over the gate, but Meiling liked greeting her on those rare occasions when she did use the gates, the evening was shaping up beautifully, no fairies were about, and she was in a good mood. She rarely viewed gods as anything other than arrogant nuisances, but the two newcomers on Youkai Mountain seemed polite. Indeed, they seemed amenable to letting Flandre visit - with Remilia's supervision, of course - which meant that Remilia could finally let her sister start making friends. Few people on Earth had been capable of surviving Flan's presence for very long, and the Scarlets had known even fewer. So Remilia smiled as she walked down the path, pirouetting occasionally as she made some new plan or game to play with her sister. Sakuya followed behind, carrying a basket filled with food and minor gifts, as well as the all-important invitation for Flandre to visit the Moriya Shrine.<p>

As they reached the first gate, Meiling was just arriving, face guardedly neutral. Remilia stopped as she was greeted with a soft "Milady," and gazed thoughtfully at the guardian youkai, then turned her senses to the mansion itself. Normally overflowing with Remilia's power shot through by Flan's - results from the occasional breaches she made, all of which Remilia was aware of, including the one that Patchouli _hadn't_ told her about - the massive complex was locked down tight. Even the slight aura of Sakuya's space-manipulation was being blocked by the wards the resident magician had raised in consequence of some happening or other. Sighing, good mood disturbed, Remilia glanced at Meiling. "I suppose Flan's gone and done something rash and Pache is going to have some words for me about getting her some friends, huh?" she said with a self-deprecating, somewhat sheepish, smile.

"There has been some trouble, yes - Lady Knowledge asked me to have you meet her in the library once you returned, Milady." _That_ reply was uncharacteristic, and Remilia looked more closely at her familial servant. She seemed unharmed, but very tense … and the normally omnipresent fairies were nowhere in evidence. And the wards that were up were _those_ wards, the same ones Pache had erected when she'd begun the ritual to bring the mansion and its grounds to Gensokyo - the ones Remilia and Flandre together had had difficulty breaching. She nodded to her servant and maid, then _moved_. Sakuya began to take some of the snacks and drinks from the basket, but Meiling shook her head. "Go with Lady Remilia. Once I finish locking the gates, if you need me I'll be in the garden." Sakuya's eyes widened; the five gates of the Scarlet Devil Mansion had never all been locked at the same time, to her knowledge - even during the Scarlet Mist Incident only three had been closed and guarded. Shaken, she nodded and turned to follow her mistress.

Remilia walked through the library doors, Sakuya appearing behind her still holding the basket. _Meiling must have told her to hang onto it._ Although Sakuya held higher authority among the staff by virtue of her position as Chief Maid and Remilia's personal servant, she typically listened to the older youkai unless under contradictory orders from either Remilia or Patchouli. That particular worthy was standing at a table with a mountain of books - her primary familiar searching the endless shelves for even more - staring at something within one of the five jars that sat on the desk … as did Flandre's hat, twin to Remilia's own.

"Remilia." Putting down the jar as her friend approached, the magician tried to judge the vampire's mood to see how she would react to the news, but couldn't find any clues behind the wall of determination. "… Flandre's gone. Vanished somehow, spirited out of the basement by some unknown magic." She gestured at the sealed jars. "I managed to capture a very small portion of the remaining essence, but most of it dispersed when I tried containing it. She seems to have disappeared yesterday evening; I decided against sending Meiling because I had hoped to find and retrieve your sister before you returned. Unfortunately, none of my simpler tracking spells will work with this kind of magic without extensive study, so with your permission I'd like to begin that study while you work on finding Flandre and figuring out how we get to her." The normally asthmatic youkai stood tall, eyes sharp - she had evidently used magic to bolster her physical endurance in preparation for the trials to come. Remilia stepped up to the desk and grasped one of the jars, staring blankly at the motes of light within.

"Sakuya, return to Meiling." Her voice was flat, rage and fear held in check by the iron control she'd developed to hold her sister down without hurting her regardless of the pain. "Have her go to the Hakurei Shrine and inform Reimu that, until I personally inform her otherwise, she is not welcome here. After that you are to attach yourself to Patchouli - I will be working in private and will have no need of your service until I finish." The maid didn't respond, and Remilia turned to see her looking like a kicked puppy. "Sakuya."

"Ah … yes, Milady." She bowed, turned stiffly and began walking to the doors exiting the library. Turning as she opened them, she saw the magician standing tiredly, looking down at the four jars remaining on her desk.

Remilia was already on her way back to her suite, mind racing. With the hat and her own connection, tracing _where_ Flan had gone shouldn't be too difficult, though how to get there would probably be much more difficult. The strange magic essence, on the other hand, was an unknown. _Was it used to ensure a safe travel? __Was it the transporting agency itself? __Was it just to penetrate the Barrier? __Is it just the personal touch of the casting mage? __Too many unknowns to ask easy questions, and Pache's already working on it, so I'll probably just use it to help trace Flan. __She'll have some connection to it, after all, even if it is weak. __And if nothing else, I can trace the mage using it._ Plans for the construction she should use were considered, rejected or stored as a possibility.

Reaching her rooms, Remilia placed the hat and jar on a small table by a small, locked door and began taking off her dress. It was one she'd had made after Sakuya began working there, and wasn't designed to be taken off or put on alone, but she had enough experience to do it without tearing anything. _Focus, focus._ Working in silence, moving without wasted effort, she readied a small bath: cold water, because heat was unnecessary; a stiff-bristled brush, to scrape away those areas she couldn't easily reach; a small bar of lye, because it had been what she used for her beginning rituals, and the familiar was useful in going into the working trance. Although she didn't think about it, the lack of activity among the fairy staff was a great help - the silence offered no distractions. Cleansed, she stood naked, letting the water drip off her skin as she considered her next preparation, then walked to the table and locked door. While she would normally have worn a simple robe, the amount of power she was about to work with would shortly destroy any normal clothing she brought in anyway, so she did without.

Tracing a simple rune on the door unlocked it, and she picked up the hat and jar to bring inside with her. The door closed softly behind her as she walked in darkness to the small altar located in the center of the room. She placed the hat on the right side of the altar, the jar on the left, then drove her right hand into her skull, reaching around her left eyeball to sever the connections between it and her brain, then dropped the intact organ in a small bowl in the middle of the altar. Finally ready, she stepped back and began to chant. As she named them, the thousands upon thousands of runes she had etched into the solid stone of the working room with her own claws, and fed with her own blood, began to glow a brilliant scarlet in answer.

And as Remilia worked the magic of fate that she had mastered, the essence of magic within the sealed jar shimmered, and glowed scarlet in response.


End file.
